Clark Terry: Further Years at the University of Ellingtonia (1955-56)

"Never think you are too hip, because two hips make an ass." — Clark Terry

Here is my second post on Clark Terry at the University of Ellingtonia, complemented by David W. Niven's audio archive and his selection of Terry's solos played and recorded over the course of two years.

This collection is particularly interesting because of introducing more flugelhorn solos into the Ellington repertoire.

I also quote passages from Clark Terry's autobiography, where he is giving astute descriptions of other members of Ellingtonia. The book, which aside from its invaluable insight into CT's life is a great piece of literature, can be purchased here.

This is how Mr Mumbles introduces his colleagues:

"Harold "Shorty" Baker got his nickname because of his height. Sometimes we'd call him "Shorty Boo," just to mess with him...He had a gorgeous sound on his trumpet and played beautiful and interesting solos."

"We called Ray Nance 'Little Dipper' in honor of Louis Armstrong, whose nickname was 'Big Dipper'. He was the sweetest cat in the world. Never harmed anyone. He smiled most of the time, and there was always a pleasant atmosphere around him. He played elegant trumpet solos and was an accomplished violinist, tap dance, and vocalist as well."

"Willie Cook came over from Dizzy's band. He was playing 'à la Birks,'...Very small but a powerful player with interesting solos. Dark-skinned with nice features—almost like a Native American. He wore a conk all the time."

"We called Johnny Hodges 'Rabbit' because with his long ears and small eyes, that’s what his face resembled. He was a marvelous lead alto player with a very mellow sound. Quiet and unassuming, but he could play his ass off."

"Russell Procope played alto. He was short and more portly than Rabbit. Kinda intellectually talkative at times. He was from the old John Kirby band. He was a dependable reader and had a beautiful sound."

"Jimmy Hamilton was a tenor player who was featured more on the clarinet. His old nickname was “Joe Trump” because he had played trumpet in Philadelphia years before. Everybody loved his playing. He was a little shorter than me, of average complexion and with a little moustache. Sort of slow of speech."

"Harry Carney had been with Duke for a long time—ever since he was seventeen. Ended up staying with Duke for forty-five years. An incredible musician. First cat in the band I saw doing circular breathing...Harry played clarinet, bass clarinet, and baritoneax. He was a big guy with intelligent conversations, and he was Duke’s favorite riding buddy. They rode together often in Harry’s Chrysler while we rode on the bus."

"Juan Tizol played valve trombone beautifully. A Cuban who spoke broken English. Olive complexion, and he wore glasses. He was a hell of a composer, too."

"Britt Woodman was a studio man who played slide trombone. Phenomenal chops, beautiful tone. And he could sight-read like nobody’s business. Such a delightful person to be around. Kinda short, with a light complexion. He was also sedentary, and would go to sleep on you in a New York minute."

"Quentin 'Butter' Jackson was a master with the slide trombone and the plunger. He filled a great void with his incredible plunger techniques after Tricky Sam left the band years before."


Now this tape, featuring more than 90 minutes of music, begins with a 1960 Bob Wilber session which Niven has mistakenly taken for a mid-1950s recording. If you want to listen to the rest of this session, go here. However, after listening to three blues tunes (one in 3/4 time) from 1960, the rest of the tape follows a chronological order. There is a great session towards the end of the B side of the tape, featuring Terry in Tony Scott's band with Bill Evans on piano.

THE BOB WILBER QUINTET
Clark Terry (tp) Bob Wilber (cl,ts) Dick Wellstood (p) George Duvivier (b) Panama Francis (d)
New York, July 22 & August 9, 1960

Where Will I Go

La Valse Bleue (The Blue Waltz)

Blue Rhumba

DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCHESTRA
Clark Terry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Gerald Wilson (tp) Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders (tb) Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts) Rick Henderson (as) Russell Procope (as,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Dave Black (d)
Chicago, May 17, 1955

Harlem Air Shaft

JOHNNY HODGES AND HIS BAND
Clark Terry (tp) Lawrence Brown (tb) Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Harry Carney (bar) Billy Strayhorn (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Sonny Greer (d)
New York, September 8, 1955

Scufflin'
Tenderly
Honey bunny
No use kickin'

DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCHESTRA 
Clark Terry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance (tp) Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders (tb) Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Russell Procope (as,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Sam Woodyard (d)
Chicago, IL, February 7, 1956

Midriff
Unbooted character
In a mellow tone
The blues

DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCHESTRA
Clark Terry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance (tp) Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders (tb) Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Russell Procope (as,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Sam Woodyard (d)
Chicago, IL, March 18, 1956

Short sheet cluster
Uncontrived

JOHNNY HODGES AND THE ELLINGTON MEN
Clark Terry, Ray Nance (tp) Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tb) Russell Procope (cl,as) Johnny Hodges (as) Jimmy Hamilton (ts,cl) Harry Carney (bar) Billy Strayhorn (p) Jimmy Woode, Sam Woodyard (b)
New York, June 26, 1957

Segdoh

Clark Terry, Harold "Shorty" Baker, Ray Nance (tp) Quentin Jackson (tb) Russell Procope (cl,as) Johnny Hodges (as) Jimmy Hamilton (ts,cl-1) Harry Carney (bar) Billy Strayhorn (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Sam Woodyard (d)
New York, September 3, 1957

Viscount
Digits

TONY SCOTT BIG BAND
John Carisi, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham (tp) Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell, Sonny Truitt (tb) Tony Scott (cl) Gigi Gryce (as) Frank Wess, Frank Foster (ts) Danny Bank, Sahib Shihab (bar) Bill Evans (p) Freddie Green (g) Milt Hinton (b) Osie Johnson (d)
New York, December 14, 1956

Just one of those things

John Carisi, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, Bernie Glow (tp) Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell (tb) Sonny Truitt (tb) Tony Scott (cl) Gigi Gryce (as) Zoot Sims, Frank Wess (ts) Danny Bank, Sahib Shihab (bar) Bill Evans (p) Freddie Green (g) Les Grinage (b) Paul Motian (d)
New York, December 13, 1956

Finger poppin’ blues [edited]